All That Glitters Ch. 20

She cut away another section of patch and placed a new bit of goop and a section of skin down. The work was cathartic, allowing her to savour her time in space, hanging on the outside of Liramor-23, taking in the beauty of the view as she worked. She had come so close to death, but she was alive and still working.

The Wanderer, Liramor Prime, Liramor System

Liea woke up as she usually did, before the alarm went off, a habit she established as a miner. It took her a moment to remember where she was as the realisation that she was not in her stateroom came into her mind. She was in Raymond's stateroom and in his rather large bed.

She reached out to feel the side of the bed he normally slept in and found it still warm but cooling fast. She checked the clock and found it twelve minutes of 06:00hrs. By the warmth of the bed, or rather the lack of it, she estimated that he'd been gone for at least twenty minutes.

She linked her comp to the ship's systems and queried his whereabouts and discovered him to be, where else at this time of day, in the gym.

She had to get there shortly herself, or Kim would be calling her and cursing at her for tardiness. Damn, that woman was a slave driver, and she was supposed to be her employee!

She slipped into the toilette and did her morning routine and was looking for clothes to wear when her comp beeped an incoming message.

"Liea!" Came the voice of Kim. "Where are you? You should be in the gym!"

Liea laughed as she opened the unit. "I was just thinking about my slave driver!" she quipped to Kim.

"Well, if you're not in the gym in two minutes, you'll do an extra six laps of the track!" Kim returned.

"I'm not dressed yet," Liea returned with a smile in her voice.

"I don't care if you're butt-assed naked, you'll be in the gym on time or else," Kim advised.

Liea found her socks and specialized track shoes, with built in deck plates, and pondered going to her stateroom for her gym gear and said Fuck it! to herself.

Wearing only her shoes, socks, and bikini panties, she headed for the gym. She walked in to hoots from the ladies and stares from the boys. Nudity was not uncommon on a ship, there were plenty of places where men and women got naked together in the course of their duties, such as the EVA chambers, the sauna, massage rooms and others. However, it was not usual to see a nude or partially naked person in the gym.

"Looking good, Liea," said Lissette Blanche, her EA. She also got a whistle from Lynne Ducharme, Raymond's EA, but received a glare from Kim.

"Right, that will cost you six extra laps, Ms. Samson," Kim said. "You are ill-prepared for your session and effectively out of uniform."

Liea just smiled. "Blame Raymond for that," she told Kim, giving Raymond a smile, and blowing him a kiss as he worked the weights. "He didn't let me bring a change of gear to his quarters."

"I've heard these pleasure ships have some rather lose rules about them, but I'm not sure I'd look good in the new uniform," Lt. Ululla Mbibo quipped as she came into the gym with her four charges, her combat team already there waiting.

"Are you kidding me, Crash?" remarked one of her team. "We've seen you in that uniform and you have nothing to fear wearing it," he teased.

Mbibo's Marine nickname was 'Crash', not from the fact that she crashed into things, but from the impact to the mat from those who underestimate her abilities in unarmed combat.

"That's smooth coming from you, Rat," Mbibo returned. "Mr. Pervert himself."

That got a chuckle from the group.

"Right, four laps around the track, you have twenty minutes!" Mbibo barked, as the team groaned and started the run.

The track was part of the system used to move missile/torpedo parts from the magazines to the ready racks, running along each side of the ship from bow to stern. Pallanders Shipyards had tied the two parts of the track together and widened it slightly to give the ship a dual use one kilometer running track as well. As long as the ship was not under tight running conditions, which would close the hatches, ships personnel could run/walk or otherwise use the distance for exercise. Several members had bought bicycles lately and had asked for a specific time of shift that they could use their bikes on the track. As most people used the gym early in their shifts, that left plenty of spare time for other uses for the track. Five minutes per kilometer was a tough pace, but the Marines and crew were used to it.

However, the scientists were not. They moved out under the watchful eye of the CWO who was working to improve their conditioning. Despite the appearance of a pleasure ship, The Wanderer was a warship and expected to go in harm's way. All members of the crew had to be ready to fight and also be conditioned for the rigors of EVA work, even the VIP team members, the spa workers, the barber, the masseuses, the tailors, valets, and maids. Working in space was always physically demanding so they were all forced to keep themselves fit and ready. So far, there was only a handful of VIP team members, the rest would join the ship soon enough. The ship's crew could hardly wait, as they included a barber/hairdresser, more masseurs, a pastry chef for the mess, and other specialized VIP crew.

The Marines had given nicknames to most of the crew and owners. Kim, of course, was 'Ninja', for her skill with edged weapons and unorthodox fighting techniques. Liea was 'Boss' because, well, she was. Lisette was 'Charmer' because of her ability to talk to everyone at any level of society about anything, and get things organized and ready, usually with someone else she convinced to help in the task, especially if physical labour was involved.

When it was discovered that Lynne, Raymond's EA, was a sucker for chocolate, she became 'Fudge' her favourite treat. Raymond of course was nicknamed 'Raijin', after the Japanese God of thunder and lightning. An acknowledgement of his capabilities as a fighter and his association with the Black Lightnings.

Twenty minutes later, most of the Marines were back, as was Lissette, Lynne, and a still nearly naked Liea. Mbibo broke the group up into smaller teams, sending them in groups to the mat for unarmed combat training, or to the weights and machines for various exercises, switching teams out every fifteen minutes. Kim helped with the unarmed combat, she also organized her little team of Liea, Lissette, and Lynne, as well as keeping an eye on Raymond.

Liea found herself the center of attention, much to Crash's humour who had to deflect more than one request from one of her teams wanting to work with Boss.

An hour and twenty minutes after they had arrived, Mbibo broke them off to head to the showers in their quarters, making sure they had time to hit the mess for breakfast prior to work beginning at 08:00hrs. The words of encouragement from the Marines to the crew took on new meaning as they said 'Good show, Fudge' and 'Good show, Boss' as the sweat on Liea's body had turned her panties almost transparent, giving more than a bit of double meaning to the phrase 'Good show'.

Crash reminded an nearly exhausted Liea that she still had six laps to make up. It took her nearly forty-five minutes to complete them. After he laps, Liea took Raymond's hand and headed back to his stateroom. She needed some TLC in the shower. The two stepped under the warm water and began to soap each other up.

Liea's soap covered hands ran up and down Raymond's body taking in the hard muscles and tracing the lines of scars that she had come to know intimately. Raymond in turn, worked his hands over her, massage the aches away, and adding more than a little stimulus to her flagging body. By the end of the shower, she was horny again and in need of a little more attention from Raymond. Fortunately, being the owners, they were not on a fixed schedule like the crew. They could eat when they were ready...

***************

Some hours later, four sleek Valour class fast ships made their way into The Wanderer's shuttle bay. Raymond, Henadi, Liea, Major Thom, and the Boatswain, were there to greet them. The Pallanders rep stepped from one of the ships.

"Mr. Clark, Ms. Samson, here are the four ships you requested, please note that a Navy person has to be here to accept them," the rep informed them.

"I am Capt. Henadi Noor, I command this vessel. Master Chief Sucre, the Boatswain, will sign for these ships." Henadi informed the rep. Mr. Sucre stepped forward and began the inspection of the four new Valour Class Fast Ships.

Raymond wanted armed shuttles but, what was available to arm a shuttle was not significant. The Valour had proved her value to all during the Second Battle of Liramor-23, so Raymond had bought four of the class. Knowing that they would only be provided to Navy personnel, he had the fast ships issued to navy side of The Wanderer. Pallanders, understanding that the ship was also a navy vessel, allowed him to pay for them.

Raymond took in the names of the four ships: the Jean Beaumont, the Marie Saitent, and the Jean Jacques Aucoin, were all civilian recipients of the White four point Cross of Valour, while the Julia Thenton was a posthumous recipient of the Red four point Military Cross of Valour.

"Any relation to Field Admiral Thenton?" Raymond asked the rep.

"His daughter, Cdr. Julia Thenton, killed in action while saving the crew of her ship during an attack. She placed herself in harms way to give the crew time to escape," the rep told Raymond and Henadi.

"Crew?" Henadi asked.

"Being certified now at Pallanders Orbital. It will be a few days. The Pilots, Navigators, Captains, Engineers, and engineer's assistants are going through qualifications now. They should all be completed within the next three days," the rep told them.

"I need another vessel," Raymond said, unexpectedly. "The first crew that is certified, we take the Thenton to Folden Naval Base and make a present of it to Admiral Thenton. That will leave us one ship down that we will have to replace."

"No problem," the rep stated. "We opened two new lines for the Valour Class, the navy has placed orders for 120 so far and will likely ask for more. I'm sure we can move one to you by the end of the week. There are plenty of names available for Valour Class ships."

"Speaking of ships, I noticed a new large ship in one of the repair cages," Henadi mentioned.

"Special ship," the rep told them. "She was not a sister ship to The Korman, but similar in design and purpose. She is being refit for use as a Union Presidential Vessel and will likely bear the name of the first president of the Union but will be known as 'Navy One'. You being who you are, I give you this information, however, I ask that you keep it private until the launch of the vessel."

"You can be assured of our discretion," Henadi stated.

"The interior modifications are based on The Wanderer. If the president decides to visit you, he will be able to find his way around," said the rep, with a smile.

"I thought the Union president was getting a fast ship?" Liea asked, remembering something she saw on the news.

"Six, actually," the rep told them. "Two Princess Class and four Valour Class as escorts. Like yours, they will be assigned to the main ship once it is built but, for now, they will work independently."

"I like the idea of the fast ships having an escort," Henadi told Maj. Thom, who nodded in agreement.

"We can place Marines in EVA combat suits on board the ships and their escorts," Thom speculated. "Might be something to broach to Adm. Ramison," he said, giving Raymond a significant look.

"You'll come with us to Folden Naval Base, where you can broach your idea to Thenton. If he likes it, he can forward it to Ramison," Raymond told him.

That unnerved Thom somewhat. Being a Major, he rarely, if ever, associated with the rarified ranks of admirals. He had to admit though, his ship's senior appointees were well-versed with hobnobbing with the upper crust, military or civilian.

1175 Rue d'Archambeau, Curselette Suburb, Liramor City, Liramor Prime

The van marked 'Hydro Curselette' was parked a half kilometer from the house they were monitoring. The back doors were open and two 'workers' were outside, working on one of the local power line junctions.

Curselette Suburb was now a high-end private family home suburb of Liramor City, but it wasn't always so. Much of the local power came from Hydro Curselette and the old lines needed to be tended to on a regular basis. The rich now had back-up in the form of small Marilon Generators, that provided more than enough power for all the needs of the large homes that now dotted the suburb. Their main power, however, still came from the lines. That gave the IPPF a ready made excuse to be in the area, hidden within the large van.

In a small space in the van, IPPF Special Agents monitored 1175 rue d'Archambeau for any significant movement. The address had been traced from a suspicious server in the offices of Serveur Informatique Pierreforme, in Vilumas City on the opposite side of the globe, the information having been provided by Luc Branchette in his guise as Marc Ouellette, a humble university graduate hired by the firm.

The agents noted a ground transport moving toward the gate. They could not see into the dark windows, but they had previously moved a floater over the gate to look into the grounds.

The vehicle approached the front doors of the mansion and they noted the owner of the house moving out the front door and down the steps to intercept the vehicle. As the door opened, the agents got a surprise they had not expected, Marcus Phiata stepped from the transport. A senior member of the Phiata Crime Family, they now had a link to the owner of the house, the Phiata Family Syndicate, and the Dark Web Server in Vilumas City. Things were looking up for the IPPF.

An hour later Phiata left the mansion, with a handshake from the owner, and moved back into his transport. The vehicle swiftly left the site and disappeared.

"We got a hit," came the voice through the secure link. "Someone from that address queried Hydro Curselette for ongoing work in the area. We are a legitimate work gang according to their office, I would advise, however, closing up the work and leaving the area soon. They informed the caller that work would finish in the next half hour."

The agents did just that. They weren't likely to get much more from the site from outside. The next step would be to get a warrant and raid the mansion. Twenty minutes later, they closed the back doors to the van and left the site, appearing to be a hydro team that had just finished its work. They left the floater on the gate, to continue imaging activity at the front of the house. It sent a signal to a repeater now positioned in the control box at the junction.

The Wanderer, Liramor Prime

Capt. Henadi Noor walked into the EVA chamber to see the male members of the Marine teams getting out of their EVA combat suits. She called over the Senior Sergeant in charge of the chamber.

"I'm here to set up for my EVA requalification," she advised the Senior Sergeant in charge of the chamber. "Where are the women of these teams?"

"Ma'am, they are in the female EVA chamber," the Sergeant advised her.

"What female chamber?" the Captain asked.

"The one across the corridor," the Sergeant returned.

"What? The chamber meant for VIPs?"

"VIPs, Ma'am," a now worried Sergeant asked.

"Yes, those chambers are for female guests of the owners. They were not meant for crew and Marines," the Captain advised the Senior Sergeant. "Who ordered the use of those chambers?"

"I'm not sure, Ma'am," the Sergeant replied. "You would have to ask the officers. I'm just following orders."

"No one on this ship, JUST follows orders, Sergeant," a now angry Captain said. "I expect the best from all who are assigned to this vessel, that means you question orders that don't seem right, unless it's in the heat of battle. If you're questioning orders in the heat of battle, you better have a damn good reason to do it, Sergeant.

"When a team is split up, for any reason, you need to question that. I don't care if the order comes from Gen. Drall himself, splitting a team means loss of identity for that team, loss of comradery, loss of team spirit, and loss of efficiency. Show me that order, Sergeant. Now!"

The Sergeant quickly called up his log and showed the order to Capt. Noor. She read it, looking more for who implemented it and nodded to the Sergeant. She called up the order number on her own comp, surprisingly finding it not in her system. She had the Sergeant send her a copy.

"Next shift, I expect to see the entire team in here. The other chamber is not for crew, is that clear, Sergeant?" the Captain demanded.

The Sergeant assured her it was.

Henadi left the EVA chamber and headed to her Ready Room, calling the Boatswain, and Raymond to meet her there. The Boatswain was waiting for her on her arrival.

"Mr. Sucre, were you aware that modifications to protocols on this ship had been made without my consent?" she asked of her Boatswain.

"Ma'am, what modification is that?" he asked of her, just as Raymond came in.

"Mr. Sucre, the EVA chambers have been set up for separate male/female changing, the women being sent to the much smaller chamber meant for guests aboard this vessel," Henadi advised him.

"I was not aware of that, Captain. Do you have the order on hand?" he asked.

"Ma'am, that may be my signature stamp, but I did not issue this order," the Boatswain advised her. "We have a problem on this ship if orders are being sent out under someone else's name.

"I'll track down this order and find out who actually sent it out. I'm sure you'll want to speak to that person, Ma'am," the Boatswain advised.

"Most certainly, Mr. Sucre. Find out who did this and why, then get that person's ass in front of me for disciplinary action. No one on this ship issues orders that change protocol without the appropriate senior officers being appraised. Sending out an order under someone else's signature is against regulations and a punishable offense." Henadi finished.

Twenty minutes later, Mr. Sucre returned with PO1 Marilyn Silverstri in tow. The Captain was speaking with several of the senior women on the ship, including Lt. (N) Carole Hinter, and Lt. (Marine) Ululla Mbibo.

"What have we here, Mr. Sucre" Henadi queried.

"L-331644-281 Petty Officer First Class Marilyn Silverstri is part of the ship's maintenance group, Ma'am," the Boatswain advised. "She is frequently outside the ship doing hull maintenance and other work. She is originally from the Giordano's Planet, a somewhat religious planet.

"PO1 Silverstri, is somewhat shy of her body, mostly because of her upbringing. She made the changes to protocol so that she wouldn't have to change in front of the boys," the Boatswain finished.

"PO1 Silverstri, who do you report to?" Henadi asked.

"CPO2 Horst, Ma'am," the PO replied, with a heavy Italian accent.

Henadi opened her comp connecting to ship-wide. "CPO Horst, this is the Captain. Drop whatever you are doing and report to my Ready Room immediately," she ordered.

"On my way, Captain," Horst replied momentarily.

Twelve minutes later, a somewhat breathless CPO2 Horst came into the Captain's Ready Room and stopped short when he saw PO1 Silverstri standing in front of the Captain's desk. He came to immediate attention and snapped a salute to the Captain.

"CPO2 Horst, PO1 Silverstri is confined to quarters until further notice," Capt. Noor began. "I place her in your charge as she is a member of your team. She is to be released from her quarters only for emergency needs. Meals will be brought to her. Summary trial will be held in three days time, Lt. Hinter, you will act as Assisting Officer for PO1 Silverstri.